The Apprentice is fast approaching its ninth series. Sitting in his extra-large chair, Sir Alan has been dolling out business profundities to his would be acolytes since 2005. The popularity of The Apprentice and other show's such as Dragon's Den have tapped into the country's latent entrepreneurial spirit, making them compulsory viewing for a growing band of would-be entrepreneurs.

The past decade has seen an interesting fusion between the cult of celebrity in Britain and business. Sir Alan, along with the ubiquitous Sir Richard Branson, have paved the way for an ever growing band of celebrity entrepreneurs. James Caan, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Peter Jones, Martha Lane Fox et al are household names who have risen to prominence either by doing something genuinely innovative in business, being on Dragon's Den, or simply by PR.

It has also become de rigueur for mainstream celebrities to become entrepreneurs too. Victoria Beckham has her fashion label, Sarah Beeny has online dating site Mysinglefriend.com, and Andy Murray has just acquired a hotel in Dunblane. In the US Jessica Alba has created The Honest Company to help parents know what ingredients and chemicals are used in baby food, and Robert De Niro is owner of the sushi restaurant Nobu.

Business is cool. Owning your own business and making loads of dosh is even cooler. But perhaps the epitome of entrepreneurial 'cool' is successfully launching a tech company, making loads of money and tweeting about it until your fingers bleed.

In many ways this is exactly what Britain needs. As we teeter on the brink of a triple-dip recession, what could be better than a growing army of new entrepreneurs with big dreams, to kick start our recovery and perhaps create a British Google or Facebook?

Except there is a real danger that the desire to become an entrepreneur is actually stronger than the desire to run a business; that this bubble of entrepreneurial spirit is actually more about mindless self-promotion, social media posing and the desire to buy your first Porche.

In other words, it's that wanting to be an entrepreneur becomes rather like wanting to be a celebrity – a frothy teenage dream. This danger is particularly acute in the UK technology sector, which is surging on a growing swell of venture capital funding and where the ability to do something new seems still to overshadow the question: will people pay to use it?

On paper I'm an entrepreneur. I started Simpatico PR two years ago with a bit of spare cash and we've grown into an ambitious little company in the digital and creative space, doing not too badly considering the tough times.

But regardless of the definition on Wikipedia, I don't think of myself as an entrepreneur. I can't help feeling there's a time and a place to claim your entrepreneurial stripes. Claim them too soon and at best you risk appearing gauche, at worst you may find yourself without a business to substantiate it.

The reality is that to be an entrepreneur, you must focus on being a small business person first. The cult of celebrity entrepreneur is masking what it takes to start a business, and could lead many people into a costly fantasy.

Even if you have a smart idea and get your first round funding or seed capital, you'll still need to face and solve an endless stream of gritty daily challenges that collectively will make or break your new company. Running a business is a linear process at the heart of which is whether a) you have something that will work in the context of a competitive market place, and b) you can sell it effectively.

Underpinning this is financing the resources you need to make it work, and underpinning that are the daily logistics of supporting and managing a team. If it works there is no end to the process, which is in itself a challenge. Sure you might get very, very lucky and sell out, but if you start with just that in mind, chances are you won't get far.

Of course any would-be entrepreneur can draw on the endless stream of rich advice shared by our celebrity entrepreneurs. All that stuff you're told about confidence and self-belief is true. You also need a sense of direction or vision. But humility and diligence are just as important.

The key to achieving growth is (from my limited experience so far) a combination of unglamorous 'one foot in front of the other' hard work, spotting the big opportunities when they come, and keeping a steady eye on the bottom line.

Britain must of course encourage more people to create new businesses. Sir Alan and co have played an important role, simply by advertising the fact that running a business can be (if you're cut out for it) a challenging and enjoyable career choice. But there's no point in encouraging people who just fancy the title entrepreneur.

So my advice to anyone about to press go on a start-up business is: get over yourself and get on with it.